


House of Horror

by yookihyunnieX



Category: K-pop, Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Gen, Halloween, Haunted Houses, I just love our scared honey, it's not scary, platonic, poor bby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 13:08:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12558052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yookihyunnieX/pseuds/yookihyunnieX
Summary: Jooheon is afraid of his own shadow, so how did his friends convince him to go to a haunted house? And could he get through this thing any faster??





	House of Horror

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween, Monbebes! I hope you all have a great Halloween (and survive this comeback?? honestly i'm not sure if I'll make it. we'll see...) Also, happy 900 days with Monsta X!! <3

Why did he agree to come here? Why did Minhyuk ask him to come here? Why did Hoseok drive him here?

Jooheon was scared of nearly everything, jumping a foot into the air if he turned and someone was behind him without him noticing them approach. He wanted to be a supportive friend; Minhyuk was so proud when he passed the audition and was hired to be a worker in this haunted house, and Hoseok didn't want to go alone to support him, so he begged Jooheon to join him. 

He was apprehensive, but after his friends’ convincing, he agreed. Minhyuk had reminded him that he and the other workers wouldn't be able to touch him, and Hoseok said he'd take the lead and let Jooheon cling to him as they walked through the halls. Minhyuk even invited over one of his co-workers, Kihyun, to pizza so Jooheon could feel less fearful.

Clearly, none of that had worked. Jooheon had dug his fingernails into Hoseok’s skin, and probably left a bruise with how tightly he squeezed the poor guy’s arm. They had made it through a few sections, and when they reached Kihyun's station, he smiled and waved in attempts to ease Jooheon. That didn't work either. The special effects and makeup were too convincing, and Kihyun's smile was more creepy than comforting. 

In a panic, Jooheon let go of Hoseok and began sprinting forward to rush through the halls. He probably would have gone backwards, since they weren't far from the entrance, but there had been a clown following them for the past few turns and he had learned Jooheon's name after Hoseok attempted to calm him. He was NOT messing with a deranged clown that was screeching “Jooheon” in a mimicking tone.

He screamed as he ran and squeezed his eyes shut as he picked up his pace. He suddenly crashed into someone and jumped back with another yell at the surprise. He blinked and realized that it was another customer, and abandoned whatever dignity he had left and leapt forward to clutch onto this stranger. He needed something or someone to sturdy him, and anyone that wasn't dressed as a clown, zombie, or any other ghoul would be sufficient.

Thankfully, the stranger didn't protest to Jooheon clinging to his arm, and instead tried to start a conversation with him. “Hey, you doing okay?” Jooheon was too frozen to respond, but the guy started to walk forward and Jooheon followed, desperate to remain connected to this calming figure. “Did you come here alone?” Jooheon shook his head no and weakly pointed behind him, his finger shaking.

He continued, trying to relax the poor guy.“What's your name?” 

“J-Jooheon.” He was still shaking as they continued forward.

“Nice to meet you, Jooheon. I'm Hyunwoo. I came here with my friends Hyungwon and Changkyun.” Jooheon hadn't even noticed the other two guys, despite their yelps in response to the jump scare in the hallway. His eyes were clenched shut whenever he wasn't looking at Hyunwoo; he didn't want to see anything else in this house of horror. “I don't really get freaked out by this stuff, but they dragged me along. We're stopping after for some of the hot chocolate here. Are you staying for a while, too?”

Jooheon tried to focus back to what he and Hoseok had planned. They purposely came at the tail end of the haunted house’s hours so Minhyuk might be able to join them for hot chocolate when his shift was done. He looked up to Hyunwoo and nodded, “Y-yeah, we're getting hot chocolate with our friend. He works here.”

“Oh, cool! Have you seen him yet?”

Jooheon honestly had no idea. He wasn't sure if Minhyuk was at the same station as Kihyun tonight, and he'd been forcing himself to stay focused on Hyunwoo beside him, trying to keep any other sights and sounds out of mind.

His two friends suddenly yelped and backed into them, trying to avoid a girl with long black hair dressed in white, coming towards them with an upside down crawl. Jooheon saw the figure and let out a shrill scream, and buried himself into the soft shoulder of his new protector. Hyunwoo let out a chuckle and patted Jooheon's back, “It's alright, we can work around her. Here, I'll step between you.” He directed Jooheon to his other side and put a comforting arm around him. 

They continued forward as a group, and Hyunwoo’s friends Hyungwon and Changkyun, intentionally or not, created a barrier between Jooheon and the woman in white. When they approached the next section, there were bags hanging from the ceiling with fake blood. Jooheon had to continue to remind himself that it was, indeed, fake. This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real. He repeated this mantra over and over.

Suddenly, a large man with a Jason mask appeared and forcefully commanded that they climb into a hole to enter a crawl space. “GET IN! Get in or I'll make you get in!” Jooheon was less than enthusiastic about this command, and started shaking in fear again, tightening his grip around Hyunwoo’s arm. “Nononono I can't, I can't get in, noooo don't make me get in!!”

Thankfully, Hyunwoo didn't try to remove himself from his grip, but instead spoke calmly to him. “Jooheon, we have to crawl through here to get to the next station. We'll be closer to the exit. My friends can go ahead of you, and I'll go in the back so no one follows you, okay?”

Jooheon turned to see one of his friends climbing into the crawl space and the other preparing to follow. The worker was still yelling, “GET IN THE HOLE!” but Hyunwoo continued to speak to him in a warm and soothing voice, “Go ahead and follow my friends; I'll be right behind you.”

Encouraged by this kind stranger, he slowly released his arm and shuffled to the entrance of the crawl space. He stooped down and began to crawl forward. He looked back to make sure Hyunwoo was behind him like he promised, and he received a warm smile from the guy. Jooheon released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding and turned forward to focus on Hyunwoo’s friends crawling in front of him.

Suddenly, there was a loud buzz that shook the ground and Jooheon nearly collapsed to the floor, fearing for his life. He squeezed his eyes shut tight, “Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no…”

“Hey, it's alright. They do it for every group; everything's okay. Try to keep crawling and we can get out of here.”

Jooheon took a few quick breaths and remembered what Hyunwoo had said about getting closer to the end. He nodded and forced his eyes open, and continued crawling. Hyungwon and Changkyun had reached the end of the tunnel and unfolded themselves from the cramped space, and one turned to take Jooheon's hand to help him out, too.

Jooheon immediately turned back and watched as Hyunwoo clamored out and offered him a hand. He straightened up and allowed Jooheon to grasp his arm again, tactfully switching sides to give his other arm a break. “I think we're just about there. You doing okay?” 

Jooheon gave a small nod, “Y-yeah, thanks.” This guy was a saint. He was a complete stranger and letting Jooheon not just walk with him, but squeeze the life out of his arm and, on top of that, he was trying to sooth Jooheon by holding a conversation. Jooheon felt immediately safer with him and felt a little bad that he threw himself at him, but he also didn't have much time to think about that with the sudden sound of a chainsaw.

Jooheon's eyes bulged and he squeezed Hyunwoo’s arm impossibly tighter and as he let out a deafening scream. Hyunwoo had nearly been a statue up until this point, but jumped back at the appearance of the chainsaw. Hyungwon and Changkyun took off in a dead sprint, and Jooheon began running, too, pulling Hyunwoo behind him with a fierce grip.

They ran down a long, hypnotizing hallway with slanted black and white checked walls. The walls began moving, and they struggled to stay upright on the small bridged floor above the rotating walls. Changkyun pulled Hyungwon up to keep him from collapsing with dizziness and the boys continued on to avoid the deranged chainsaw yielder behind them.

Hyunwoo noticed a door and yanked on the handle, and the boys stumbled out of the spinning hallway and into an open room with warm lights and the chatter of others who had gone through the haunted house. They made it!!

Jooheon finally released Hyunwoo's arm from his vice grip and leaned over to rest his hands on his knees and catch his breath. He blinked in his surroundings as his heart rate slowly decreased to normal. Changkyun and Hyungwon had begun searching for a table and Hyunwoo waved for Jooheon to follow them.

He tried to gain some composure and stood up to follow his haunted house savior. “Your friend probably had to fall back with the group behind you, so you can wait for him with us if you want.”

Jooheon nodded and took a seat. “Yeah, probably. Thank you. And thanks for letting me walk through with you.” He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed at how he had acted in the haunted house.

Hyunwoo chuckled, “It's no problem! I'm glad you joined us.” His smile was warm and welcoming and Jooheon felt himself calm down.

Suddenly there was someone behind him, touching his shoulders. Jooheon let out a scream and all but fell out of his chair, and turned to see Hoseok laughing at his reaction. “That's what you get for leaving me back there! I've never seen you run so fast!”

Jooheon once again had to calm himself, cursing inwardly at his friend’s attack. “Yeah, sorry about that. I don't even remember most of what happened, I was so afraid.”

“You took off sprinting when Kihyun said hi; you should have seen his expression after that! And you didn't even look at Minhyuk!”

“That makeup is too real! I couldn't even tell it was Kihyun, I was scared out of my mind! So, I ran ahead into these guys.”

“Literally,” jumped in Hyunwoo. “He collided into my back and scared me more than the station we were at. He stuck with us from there. There were a few times I wondered if he'd sprint ahead again,” he chuckled, “but I think he had a pretty strong grip on me.” He rubbed at his arms, slightly red from Jooheon's hands.

“Sorry about that,” Jooheon cringed at his reaction to the haunted house. He was embarrassed that he was so jumpy, but he couldn't help it, he was just really easily startled. “Thanks again for letting me stick with you.”

“You're alright,” Hyunwoo insisted. “These two were close to leaving me behind a few times,” he said nodding to Changkyun and Hyungwon, “so it was nice having a partner to walk through with.”

His two friends giggled bashfully, admitting that they were pretty afraid themselves. 

As they grabbed hot chocolate for themselves, they all recalled the scarier moments of the walk through, much to Jooheon's chagrin. Hoseok was impressed with Minhyuk’s performance, despite him breaking character to say hi to him and to laugh at Jooheon's reaction to Kihyun.

When Minhyuk and Kihyun greeted them after the last customers made it through the haunted house, Minhyuk insisted on showing Jooheon what his fear-filled face looked like, and did with a re-enactment with Kihyun. The two roared with laughter and Jooheon laughed at himself with pink cheeks of embarrassment.

They finished their drinks together, and congratulated Minhyuk and Kihyun for being successfully scary staff, obviously having an effect on Jooheon, as well as some of the others. As they stood to leave, Jooheon thanked his protector from evil once again, wishing him and his friends a happy Halloween.


End file.
